A particle that emerges from the theoretical mechanism that is thought to give other particles mass.
6
votes
2answers
1k views
Practical matter of the Higgs-Mechanism
My maybe very naive question is, of what practical importance will the discovery of the Higgs-Mechanism be for our technological advance in the near future?
9
votes
2answers
3k views
How does the Higgs mechanism work?
I'm not a particle physicist, but I did manage to get through the Feynman lectures without getting too lost.
Is there a way to explain how the Higgs field works, in a way that people like me might ...
9
votes
4answers
814 views
Is there an accepted analogy/conceptual aid for the Higgs field?
Is there an accepted analogy / conceptual aid for the Higgs field?
In Physics there are many accepted conceptual aids such as
* Schrödinger's cat
* Maxwell's Demon
* I'm sure I'm missing ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Why do we need Higgs field to re-explain mass, but not charge?
We already had definition of mass based on gravitational interactions since before Higgs. It's similar to charge which is defined based on electromagnetic interactions of particles.
Why did Higgs ...
9
votes
2answers
704 views
What happens to matter in a standard model with zero Higgs VEV?
Suppose you reset the parameters of the standard model so that the Higgs field average value is zero in the vacuum, what would happen to standard matter?
If the fundamental fermions go from a finite ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Shape of the Higgs branching ratio to ZZ
I've been looking at the, now very popular, graph of the SM Higgs decay branching ratios:
You see that the ZZ branching ratio has a funny dip around the $170\, GeV$, very different from the WW ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
How does the Higgs Boson gain mass itself?
If the Higgs field gives mass to particles, and the Higgs boson itself has mass, does this mean there is some kind of self-interaction?
Also, does the Higgs Boson have zero rest mass and so move at ...
5
votes
2answers
683 views
The contribution to mass from the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry
The claim is often made that the discovery of the Higgs boson will give us information about the origin of mass. However, the bare masses of the up and down quarks are only around 5 MeV, quite a bit ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
How does Higgs Boson get the rest mass?
Higgs Boson detected at LHC is massive. It has high relativistic mass means it has non-zero rest mass.
Higgs Boson gives other things rest mass. But, how does it get rest mass by itself?
15
votes
2answers
1k views
If the LHC doesn't find the Higgs Boson, what would be the implications for the Standard Model?
What would be the implications to the Standard Model if the Higgs Boson hadn't been found with the LHC?
Also, if the Higgs Boson had not been found with the LHC, would it have been successfully ...
10
votes
1answer
803 views
115 GeV, 170 GeV, and the noncommutative standard model
Several years ago, noncommutative geometry was used to describe the standard model, somehow yielding a prediction of 170 GeV for the mass of the Higgs boson, a prediction which was falsified a few ...
6
votes
1answer
850 views
Measured Higgs mass and vacuum stability
There is such a thing, called "stability bound" on mass of the Higgs boson.
The basic idea (as I understand it) is that we take Higgs self-coupling, and calculate its renormalization running. And it ...
1
vote
1answer
385 views
Please explain me how the Higgs boson gives mass to other particles, more detail?
As we know, the Higgs boson gives mass to other particles. But here is onething which is not clear for me. I mean, I do not understand how the Higgs boson gives mass to other particles? Does anyone ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Why isn't Higgs coupling considered a fifth fundamental force?
When I first learned about the four fundamental forces of nature, I assumed that they were just the only four kind of interactions there were. But after learning a little field theory, there are many ...
3
votes
4answers
582 views
What if we could give photons some mass?
I was reading an article and these paragraphs got me wondering...
Before I list the replies, here is some background. The Higgs mechanism describes an invisible field that, it is argued, split one
...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
What evidence is there for the electroweak higgs mechanism?
The wikipedia article on the Higgs mechanism states that there is overwhelming evidence for the electroweak higgs mechanism, but doesn't then back this up. What evidence is there?
-4
votes
1answer
153 views
Why did Standard Model never sense a requirement to include gravitational quantum?
Standard Model is advanced version of Quantum physics. It tried to include everything which came in the way while understanding quantum world. It even didn't bother to include even Higgs Boson which ...
7
votes
2answers
298 views
How do you find spin of a particle from experimental data?
So I was wondering, with all this Higgs talk going on, they just detected a particle with a mass of 125 GeV (CMS) or 126.5 GeV (ATLAS). But they still don't know what it is, since there is tons of ...
7
votes
1answer
717 views
How many $fb^{-1}$ for the most likely $5\sigma$ 115 Gev Higgs at the 7 Tev LHC?
How many $fb^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at the 7 Tev LHC do physicists expect are needed, to make a $5\sigma$ discovery of the most likey 115 Gev Higgs, if it exists?
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Why is Higgs Boson given the name “The God Particle”?
Higgs Boson (messenger particle of Higgs field) accounts for inertial mass, not gravitational mass.
So, how could it account for formation of universe as we know it today? I think, gravity accounts ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Does the equivalence between inertial and gravitational mass imply anything about the Higgs mechanism?
For example: the role it might play in a theory of quantum gravity (ie causing space-time curvature)?
I realize that inertial mass can result from binding energy alone. Has the equivalence principle ...
2
votes
1answer
129 views
Is this a good explanation of the Higgs mechanism? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an accepted analogy/conceptual aid for the Higgs field?
A video I watched explains the Higgs mechanism as follows.
Take massless particles. These can only ever ...
28
votes
4answers
2k views
What is needed to claim the discovery of the Higgs boson?
As I understand the Higg's boson can be discovered by the LHC because the collisions are done at an energy that is high enough to produce it and because the luminosity will be high enough also.
But ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
What does the discovery of the Higgs Boson mean for physics?
Will this unite some theories, or cause some other change in physics, and perhaps our undertanding of the universe?
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Why don’t photons interact with the Higgs field?
Why don’t photons interact with the Higgs field and hence remain massless?
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Why is the Higgs boson spin 0?
Why is the Higgs boson spin 0? Detailed equation-form answers would be great, but if possible, some explanation of the original logic behind this feature of the Higgs mechanism (e.g., "to provide ...
4
votes
0answers
59 views
Are oscillations of electron chirality experimentally observable?
Is there any plausible experiment by which chirality oscillations in electrons could be observed experimentally, such as through some analogy to neutrino oscillation experiments?
3
votes
1answer
93 views
Origin of Higgs ghosts
In M. Veltman's Diagrammatica, appendix E, one can find the full Standard Model lagrangian. Some sectors (e.g fermion-Higgs and weak sectors) contain so-called Higgs ghosts $\phi^+,\phi^-$ and ...
3
votes
1answer
234 views
Relationship between hierarchy problem and higgs fine tuning?
I often hear of hierarchy problem being used synonymous with Higgs fine tuning (esp with regards with motivations for SUSY). What exactly is the relationship between the two problems? As I understand ...
1
vote
1answer
218 views
Why Higgs particle is the root of all elementary particles?
The Higgs boson is a hypothetical elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. It belongs to a class of particles known as bosons
What Will Happens If physicist Find ...
5
votes
1answer
3k views
How would the discovery of Higgs Boson affect superstring theories?
As we probably all know, a new particle similar to Higgs Boson has been discovered.
If this turns out to be true, standard model will get a boost (as the discovered mass almost equals to the ...
5
votes
1answer
220 views
Why are WW gg ττ branching ratios so similar for a 115 GeV SM Higgs?
In a previous question on Higgs branching ratios, I find this image
(originally from page 15 here).
I am VERY intrigued by the fact that decays to WW, gg, and ττ are almost equally probable, for ...
4
votes
5answers
3k views
The Higgs field a new Luminiferous aether?
As of this writing it has been made clear to me that classical physics' Luminiferous aether was a terriblly poor discriptor of space. With the advent of Special Relativity and General Relativity, that ...
3
votes
2answers
411 views
What sort of “mass” is explained by the Higgs mechanism?
When I asked this question (probably in a less neutral form) to physicists, their answer was something along the lines that it's not gravity (i.e. unrelated to gravitons) but inertial mass. (So I ...
2
votes
1answer
219 views
Has the Higgs really been discovered at CERN?
Many news media round the world such as this http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=higgs-lhc have reported the possible discovery of the Higgs at CERN, to be announced at a conference on ...
0
votes
1answer
260 views
What is the relationship between the Higgs field and quarks?
I have some difficulty considering the relative size of each and the meaning behind the shape of Higgs boson. I ask relating to the structures of both the Higgs field and quarks. How is it that the ...
0
votes
1answer
224 views
Why is the mass of even the upper limit of the possible Higgs boson is less than the top quark?
On 7 March 2012, the DØ and CDF collaborations announced that, after analyzing the full data set from the Tevatron accelerator, they found excesses in their data that might be interpreted as coming ...